Proud Rural Teacher

For the first half of the 20th century, if you were a kid in Southwest Wisconsin, you attended a one-room school. K-8, one room, one teacher. You walked miles to school throughout the seasons, and spent a tremendous amount of time with the same group of people. In Grant County, by 1912, we had 201 one-room schoolhouses, but by the end of the WWII, schools began consolidating. By 1950, most were gone. Today, some have been converted into homes, but many have been lost. Something though, that hasn’t are the stories. Today you’ll meet a dear friend of mine, Ron Weier of Platteville Wisconsin, who attended the in the mid to late 50s. Bloomfield was centrally placed between Mineral Point and Dodgeville and served about 10 families. This type of school was pretty representative for our area. Part of our rural spirit, rests in capturing, understanding, and appreciating where we’ve come from. Enjoy today’s chat -- it’s part of our history. 

You can read more about Grant County Rural Schools at the Wisconsin State Historical Society Website. There are lots of photographs too! 

Someday be sure to visit the Southwest Wisconsin Room at UW-Platteville where you can enjoy amazing resources about our local history.

In this episode you'll meet Gary Funk, Director of the Rural School Collaborative. The RSC's mission is "to build sustainable rural communities through a keen focus on place, teachers, and philanthropy." Today, we are focusing on two funding and support opportunities for educators -- the National Signature Project Award and the Grants in Place Fellows program. 

To learn more about the RSC, visit their website at https://ruralschoolscollaborative.org/.

Today's podcast episode features Laurie Heimsoth, a 5th grader teacher at Mineral Point Elementary in Southwest Wisconsin. Laurie, like many teachers, has moved her class to remote learning at home. Mineral Point is considered a rural area where not all kids have access, but Laurie has done a great job preparing her crew for this change in environment. Listen to hear how she is making the transition. :-)

Laurie's email: [email protected]

In this podcast episode you'll meet Jerry Apps, Wisconsin author, speaker, and storyteller on Wisconsin history, agriculture, and our rural heritage. Over the years, I've read his books, blog posts, and I've been able to hear him speak. I'm always left feeling a sense of gratitude for rural Southwest Wisconsin. His words are important to share because it reminds us that where we live...matters, and we should be fostering that narrative. As you listen to this episode, I am hoping that you'll be able to gather some ideas of how you can facilitate learning about our past, our culture, and our rural heritage so the next generation can also feel that sense of gratitude and pride. 

Links to referenced resources:

Tools for recording oral histories:

• https://www.soundtrap.com/
• https://www.wevideo.com/
• https://web.seesaw.me/ (for elementary students)

Information about the work of Jerry Apps: 

• https://www.jerryapps.com/

Resources to get started in 4h, county fairs, and Wisconsin Dairy Breakfast events:

• https://4-h.org/
• https://4h.extension.wisc.edu/ (4h in Wisconsin, specifically)
• https://www.wifairs.com/
• https://hooraywisconsindairy.com/

Resources to start a school garden:

• https://wischoolgardens.org/

Resources to teach Agriculture (k-12):

• https://www.agclassroom.org/

This fall our School of Education has developed a new position called "Recruitment & Retention Specialist." For a small School of Education in a rural area, this type of investment is important as we strive to support our students through their undergraduate career and encourage incoming freshman to consider education as a career. Kayla Murphy joined the school of education this fall to lead the charge. Listen to discover how Kayla has developed programming, redesigned a student center, collaborated on cross-departmental outreach, and increased prospective student traffic as our students prepare for entering teaching in rural areas.

Kayla's Email: [email protected]

This first episode provides an overview of the mission of the Proud Rural Teacher podcast.